U.S. Postal Service trucks sit parked outside a station in Chelsea, New York.Adam Jeffery | CNBC The U.S. Postal Service is testing its first long-haul self-driving delivery truck in a two-week pilot program that will use an autonomous tractor trailer to deliver mail between distribution centers in Phoenix, Arizona and Dallas, Texas.
TuSimple, a self-driving truck company, is providing the truck and will have a safety engineer and driver in the cab to monitor its performance and take control if there are any issues, the company said in announcing the test Tuesday. The postal service has been exploring the idea for some time, recently soliciting bids to put semi-autonomous mail trucks on the road in a few years that allow a human to sort the mail while being autonomously driven along their route.
“We are conducting research and testing as part of our efforts to operate a future class of vehicles which will incorporate new technology to accommodate a diverse mail mix, enhance safety, improve service, reduce emissions, and produce operational savings,” said postal service spokeswoman Kim Frum.
The pilot-program is limited, just five runs in late May. For TuSimple, the test drives are a chance to validate its vision of autonomous semi's changing the dynamics and costs of long-haul trucking. The start-up has been hauling freight on I-10 in self-driving trucks since last August. TuSimple, with 17 self-driving semi's, has raised $178 million in four rounds of funding since it was founded in 2015.
“Performing for the USPS on this pilot in this particular commercial corridor gives us specific use cases to help us validate our system, and expedite the technological development and commercialization progress,” said Dr. Xiaodi Hou, Founder, President and Chief Technology Officer of TuSimple.
Autonomous trucking has become a hot area for private equity investors with startups like Boxbot Ike raising millions of dollars to develop the technology for self-driving semi's The appeal of the space is simple: autonomous trucks could lower the cost of shipping goods by eliminating drivers.
While nobody expects regulators to approve driverless semi's anytime soon, the potential of autonomous trucks is enormous. It's the reason manufacturers are working on self-driving semi's. Tesla, which is developing an all-electric semi, has said all of its trucks will come with autopilot technology.
For the U.S. Postal Service, self-driving semi's could provide a huge benefit. In 2018, the USPS had more than 5,500 tractors and trailers in its fleet.
Author: CNBC Online news
A self-driving shuttle bus is on the move at Brussels Airport
Initially, the autonomous shuttle bus will make its trips without passengers.Brussels Airport CompanyA self-driving shuttle bus has started making trips at Brussels Airport. In a statement earlier this week, the airport said that the vehicle, which is operated by transport firm De Lijn, would undertake several demonstration trips, without passengers, to test the technology.
It is hoped that, eventually, the vehicles, which use sensors to detect surrounding objects, will be able to navigate through traffic autonomously. The airport said it expects passengers to be able to use the vehicles by the middle of 2021.
The CEO of the Brussels Airport Company, Arnaud Feist, said intelligent mobility was “one of our strategic priorities for sustainable development over the coming years.”
Feist added that the airport wanted to encourage passengers and employees to travel there by public transport.
“This joint project with De Lijn, which commenced in 2015, is one of the initiatives specifically aimed at achieving this objective,” he explained. “We're now exploring how self-driving buses can be deployed to improve the efficiency of passenger transport on the airport grounds.”
Slowly but surely, autonomous vehicles are starting to be used in real world situations. In January 2019, Japanese airline All Nippon Airways announced it had commenced the second phase of testing for an autonomous and driverless bus at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
In April, Starship Technologies – which specializes in autonomous delivery services – announced it had made 50,000 commercial deliveries with its technology.
The firm's robots can make deliveries within a four-mile radius, and carry goods including parcels, groceries and food.
Ford recalls 270,000 Fusion cars to fix glitch that can cause vehicles to shift gears and roll away
Ford Motor Co. Fusion vehicles move down the production line at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesFord Motor said Wednesday that it is recalling more than 270,000 Fusion vehicles in North America to fix a transmission glitch that can cause the car to shift gears and roll away.
The recall is for 2013-16 Fusion vehicles with 2.5-liter engines that were built at the automaker's Flat Rock, Michigan, and Hermosillo, Mexico, assembly plants.
The company said the bushing that attaches the shifter cable to the vehicle's transmission may detach, which can result in “unintended vehicle movement.” Ford said it is aware of three reports of property damage due to the issue and one injury “potentially” related to the problem.
VIDEO2:2802:28Ford on the road to nowhereTrading NationAbout 260,000 of the cars were recalled in the United States. More than 10,000 and 3,000 vehicles were also recalled in Canada and Mexico, respectively.
Ford also recalled about 3,000 2019 Ranger pickup trucks in the United States and Canada that were built at the company's Wayne, Michigan, assembly plant. The automaker cited another transmission issue for the Ranger recalls, saying that the transmission shift cable bracket in affected vehicles may not have been torqued correctly and can eventually come lose.
This can cause the vehicle to shift into a different gear than the one selected by the driver, which can lead to the pickup truck rolling away and “increasing the risk of crash or injury.”
The company said it has not received any incident reports regarding the faulty Ranger vehicles.
Read Ford's full statement here.
WATCH: Ford has a new robot to deliver parts to factory workers
VIDEO1:0301:03Ford has a new robot to deliver parts to factory workersThe Bottom Line
Trump administration will delay auto tariffs for up to six months
VIDEO1:1101:11Trump officially postpones auto tariffs for up to six monthsSquawk BoxThe Trump administration will delay tariffs on cars and auto part imports for up to six months as it negotiates trade deals with the European Union and Japan.
In a proclamation Friday, Trump said he directed U.S.Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to seek agreements to “address the threatened impairment” of national security from auto imports. Trump could choose to move forward with tariffs during the talks.
“United States defense and military superiority depend on the competitiveness of our automobile industry and the research and development that industry generates,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. “The negotiation process will be led by United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and, if agreements are not reached within 180 days, the President will determine whether and what further action needs to be taken.”
In his proclamation, Trump argued in part that “domestic conditions of competition must be improved by reducing imports.”
Vehicles wait for shipment at Lianyungang Port in Lianyungang, China.VCG | Visual China Group | Getty ImagesThe White House had to decide by Saturday whether to slap duties on autos. Earlier this year, the Commerce Department said Trump could justify the move on national security grounds. By law, the administration can push back its decision by up to six months if it is negotiating with trading partners.
In a statement Friday, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said “we completely reject the notion that our car exports are a national security threat.” She added that the trade bloc “is prepared to negotiate a limited trade agreement” including cars, but not so-called managed trade, in which the partners could set targets like quotas.
Malmstrom said EU officials will discuss the issue with Lighthizer next week in Paris.
Levying the auto tariffs threatened to open new fronts in a global trade war that could drag down the U.S. economy. The EU has already prepared a list of American goods to target with tariffs if Trump goes ahead with the car duties.
Automakers and some U.S. lawmakers opposed the potential tariffs. The American car industry said the duties would put jobs in jeopardy and raise prices for consumers.
The decision comes after the U.S. and China fired new shots in their trade war. The White House is working to salvage a deal with Beijing to address what the U.S. calls trade abuses amid the widening conflict.
Trump also used the national security justification last year to put tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, including metals coming from allies such as the EU, Canada and Mexico. Europe previously retaliated after those duties.
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Usain Bolt launches two-seater electric vehicle which starts at $9,999
VIDEO4:1504:15Cities need help with congestion: Usain Bolt on electric scooter firmStreet Signs EuropeUsain Bolt's Mobility company has launched a two-seater, all-electric and zero-emission vehicle.
Dubbed the Bolt Nano, it was unveiled at the VivaTech conference in Paris Thursday. Whilst detailed information about the vehicle has yet to be revealed, prices start at $9,999, with deliveries starting in 2020.
Those interested in the Bolt Nano can put down a refundable deposit of $999 to reserve a vehicle, which has a swappable battery and seats one passenger in the front and one in the back. The vehicles are small enough for four to fit into one parking space.
The launch of the Bolt Nano comes in the same week that the firm announced it was rolling out its e-scooter offering in Paris. Users of the scooter service locate their vehicles via an app, paying for their ride through an account with the company. In the U.S., it costs $1 to unlock a vehicle and then 15 cents per minute.
Speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso Thursday, Bolt said that, having retired from sport, he was entering a new chapter of his life. “Through traveling, through my times as a track athlete, I've learned that the cities around the world need help with congestion,” he said.
Bolt, one of the most successful and iconic athletes of all time, is a co-founder of the business. The firm says its aim is to cut congestion and people's reliance on “personal vehicles” by partnering with city governments to “weave transportation alternatives into the fabric of urban environments.”
Sarah Haynes is also co-founder of the firm. She told CNBC that there was a “big, big appetite for finding solutions for transportation issues.”
“The cities that we have today are the same ones that have been there for centuries, and they're not made for this many cars,” she explained, going on to add that the firm was “looking at a fleet of transportation solutions that are electric. Our designs with our scooters are all customized so we can recycle every single part, including the batteries.”
The way people move around urban areas is changing, with ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft now offered in major cities across the world. Well established cycle-share schemes are also available in capitals such as London and Paris.
In the electric scooter market, Usain Bolt's venture is one of many looking to tap in to the shared transport sector. Firms such as Bird, Lime, and Bolt – formerly known as Taxify – also offer users a platform that allows them to locate and hire electric scooters using their smartphone.
Whether electric scooters take off and become a popular mode of transport for urban commuters remains to be seen. Regulatory hurdles pose a significant challenge to their mass adoption.
In the U.K., for example, e-scooters are considered to be “powered transporters.” This means that, currently, they are defined as being “motor vehicles” and it is illegal to use them on a public road without complying with several requirements, which in practice is difficult. Use of powered transporters on U.K. pavements and cycle lanes is also prohibited.
Change is afoot, however. In March 2019, the government announced what it described as “the biggest review into transport in a generation.” The review will look at regulations surrounding vehicles such as e-scooters and e-cargo bike trailers and will explore modernizing old laws that date back to the 1800s.
Europe’s ride-sharing unicorns call for reform to help the sector thrive
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Volvo Cars signs ‘multi-billion dollar’ supply deals with Asian battery firms
VIDEO2:0002:00Volvo Cars wants open trade and zero tariffs, CEO saysSquawk Box EuropeThe Volvo Car Group has signed long-term, “multi-billion dollar” deals with two major battery makers in Asia. In an announcement Wednesday, the car firm said that the agreements with firms CATL and LG Chem would ensure a supply of lithium ion batteries for its next generation Volvo and Polestar models.
The deals chime with Volvo Cars' wider strategy to electrify its vehicles. In 2017 the firm committed to ensuring all new Volvo cars launched from 2019 would be electrified. In addition, it wants fully electric cars to account for half of its global sales volume by 2025.
“The future of Volvo Cars is electric and we are firmly committed to moving beyond the internal combustion engine,” Hakan Samuelsson, the president and CEO of Volvo Cars, said in a statement Wednesday.
“Today's agreements with CATL and LG Chem demonstrate how we will reach our ambitious electrification target,” he added.
CATL and LG Chem are Chinese and South Korean businesses respectively. A major player in the automotive sector, Volvo Cars was bought by China's Zhejiang Geely Holding in 2010. The business sold 642,253 cars last year.
Speaking to CNBC's Squawk Box Europe on Wednesday, Samuelsson emphasized the importance of infrastructure being in place to support its commitment to electric mobility.
“That is really going to decide the pace we have in the transition,” he said, going on to add that the “supply of batteries will be crucial.”
Overall, 408,000 plug-in vehicle units were sold across Europe in 2018, according to analysis from EV-Volumes.
In 2017, there were more than 3 million electric and plug-in hybrid cars on the planet's roads, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) Global Electric Vehicles Outlook. This represents an increase of 54 percent compared to 2016.
Almost 580,000 electric cars were sold in China in 2017, according to the IEA, while around 280,000 were sold in the U.S.
Tesla may be about to lose a key group of investors that have stuck with the struggling stock
Elon Musk, co-founder and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., speaks during an unveiling event for the Tesla Model Y crossover electric vehicle in Hawthorne, California, U.S., on Friday, March 15, 2019.Patrick T. Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesTesla's recent move to raise cash may quiet down its skeptics. Yet Elon Musk has given them new ammo as he shifts his focus to autonomous vehicles — which pushes out the automaker's path to profitability even further.
Musk last week tapped Wall Street to raise $2.7 billion in stock and bond offerings, which sparked a relief rally in its stock that had been struggling amid disappointing production and the company's legal woes.
But on an investor call hosted by the deal's underwriters, Musk changed his tune, talking up Tesla's self-driving strategy right off the bat, confidently saying autonomous driving will transform Tesla into a company with a $500 billion market cap.
VIDEO2:5002:50Trading Nation: Tesla picks up speedTrading Nation “Case for a trillion-dollar market cap used to center around high-volume, high-profit auto sales … now it's all in on autonomy,” Barclays autos analyst Brian Johnson said in a note Tuesday. “Tesla [is] apparently pivoting from auto profits to autonomy profits.”
The pivot to autonomy now means growth investors will have to wait around even longer for any payoff, Johnson notes. The so-called rational bulls, typically large institutional investors with a growth mandate, believed that “Tesla will be a multi-product automaker in the next five to seven years with its light vehicle lineup,” Johnson said.
Now that's changed.
Shares of Tesla surged more than 4% the day the company announced its the stock and bond offering, and they jumped another 4% a day later when Tesla decided to upsize the deal to $2.7 billion from $2.3 billion as the offering eased the concerns about the company's liquidity and financing. Tesla's stock is still down more than 24% this year.
Musk first touted the idea of robotaxis on the company's investor day on April 22, saying Tesla would be able to offer robotaxis next year and it will be making cars with no steering wheels or pedals in two years.
Barclays rates Tesla at underweight and has a 12-month price target of $192, which would represent a 25% loss based on Monday's close of $255.
“We believe the appeal of Tesla shares to growth investors may fade,” Johnson said. “Some of the rational bulls may need to reassess the idea that Tesla will become a profitable auto market.”
— With reporting by Michael Bloom
WATCH: David Einhorn calls out Tesla Founder Elon Musk
VIDEO1:2501:25Hedge fund manager David Einhorn calls out Tesla's Musk at Sohn conferenceThe Bottom Line
VW’s new electric car passes 10,000 orders in just 24 hours
Juergen Stackmann, member of the Board of Management, Volkswagen Passenger and Cars brand presents the pre-order scheme of the Volkswagen ID 3 electric car during a press conference in Berlin on May 8, 2019.ODD ANDERSEN | AFP | Getty ImagesVolkswagen has claimed that pre-orders for its ID.3 electric hatchback surpassed 10,000 cars in just 24 hours.
The auto giant revealed Wednesday that the entry-level car will cost less than 30,000 euros ($33,600), with deliveries in Europe slated for the middle of 2020.
VW's Golf-sized ID.3 will officially launch this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The car is named ID.3 because Volkswagen views the model as the third major evolution in the firm's history, after the Golf and Beetle.
The German automaker started to accept pre-orders for the ID.3 Wednesday, asking for a deposit of 1,000 euros.
VIDEO3:0403:04VW launches electric dune buggy concept at Geneva Motor ShowSquawk Box EuropeCustomers who pre-book can officially order their cars after the Frankfurt show. Orders become binding in April 2020, with those who change their mind able to get a full refund until then.
Volkswagen sales boss Jürgen Stackmann said on Twitter Thursday that more than 10,000 registrations were received throughout Europe within 24 hours of the launch.
That number falls well short of the launch of the Tesla Model 3 in April 2016. According to the company's chief executive Elon Musk, in just two days the Model 3 generated 276,000 pre-orders secured by deposits of $1000.
On Wednesday, VW's Stackmann told reporters that the electric car will allow for more internal space than a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE).
“From the outside, the ID.3 will be as large as a Golf. In the interior, it will be as spacious as a medium-sized car.”
VW plans to sell three versions of the ID.3 (45kWh, 58kWh, 77kWh) with varying ranges (200 miles, 261 miles and 342 miles).
The German firm said a full warranty on the ID.3's battery will cover eight years, just under 100,000 miles or the normal depreciation of the battery to 70% of its original maximum capacity.
WATCH: Concerns about EV infrastructure 'overplayed'
VIDEO2:3702:37Analyst: Concerns about EV infrastructure are 'overplayed'Squawk Box Asia
Tesla faces twin assault as Mercedes, VW start taking orders for first long-range EVs
Elon MuskMike Blake | ReutersIt's been a tough month for Tesla, and the challenges the Silicon Valley electric-car maker faces will only accelerate now that two major European automakers are launching sales of their first entries into the long-range EV market.
Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz began taking orders Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, for new battery-electric vehicles, with the two companies each planning to follow up with a wave of additional entries over the next few years. Whether they will prove to be “Tesla killers,” as some observers have dubbed them, is far from certain but the two German manufacturers are each investing billions of euros in their electrification programs.
VIDEO1:3501:35Tesla has new competitor from AudiThe Bottom Line “With the Mercedes-Benz EQC, we are entering a new era of mobility,” said Britta Seeger, member of the board of management of Daimler responsible for Mercedes-Benz cars sales. “It is part of the growing family of all-electric vehicles at Mercedes-Benz and combines brand-defining features such as quality, safety and comfort.”
But one of the keys to success Seeger added, is likely to be longer “range absolutely suitable for everyday use.”
The Mercedes Benz EQC.Adam Jeffery | CNBCThe first wave of electric vehicles, such as the Nissan Leaf and Ford Focus Electric, could deliver only around 100 miles per charge. Tesla proved an immediate breakout with its Model S sedan yielding more than double that – and its latest version of that sedan is EPA-rated at 370 miles between charges.
The compact Mercedes EQC, essentially an electrified version of its GLC crossover, will get around 270 miles in European trim and even more in the version slated for the U.S. market.
Volkswagen's first long-range entry, the ID.3, lifts a page from Tesla's playbook by offering customers three different battery pack options. The smallest, at 45 kilowatt-hours, is expected to manage around 200 miles, based on European testing, with optional 58 and 77 kWh battery packs rated at around 260 and 340 miles, respectively.
The new VW hatchback hasn't even had its official world premiere — expected to take place at the Frankfurt Motor Show next autumn — and it will be about a year before the first customers can take delivery. But the automaker on Thursday opened up a special website for advance orders. Pricing for the ID.3, which initially will target the European market, will start at 30,000 euros ($34,000). Customers in Europe preordered 10,000 ID.3s in the first 24 hours on the market there, overwhelming the company's website and leading to long wait times online, VW said.
A Volkswagen ID 3 electric car is seen in a glass cage during a press conference in Berlin on May 8, 2019.ODD ANDERSEN | AFP | Getty ImagesThe crossover, which will anchor a new sub-brand dubbed Volkswagen ID, will be just the first in a broad array of about 50 long-range electric vehicles the Wolfsburg, Germany-based carmaker plans to bring to the market by mid-decade through its various brands. It has already launched sales of the new Audi e-tron crossover and is preparing to deliver the first Porsche Taycan battery sports cars.
For the U.S., VW will begin its electrified assault next year with a production version of the ID Crozz concept. In January, during a visit to the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess said his company will spend $800 million to expand its factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to handle that crossover and another all-electric model, a move that also will create about 1,000 new jobs.
“The supertanker is picking up speed,” Volkswagen executives said during a March presentation in Frankfurt. “We are aligning Volkswagen with e-mobility like no other company in our industry.”
Adam Jeffery | CNBCAdam Jeffery | CNBCVolkswagen's diesel emissions scandal has already cost it around $30 billion and seen a number of executives jailed or indicted, including former CEO Martin Winterkorn. The company's shifting its focus from the “oil-burners” that long dominated its lineup to focus on electrification.
It has announced plans to spend 9 billion euros, about $10 billion at current exchange rates, on battery cars by 2023. And during his Frankfurt speech, Diess upped his estimate of VW's global EV salesprojections from 15 million vehicles to 22 million over the next decade.
These numbers dwarf those of Daimler, but the parent of the Mercedes-Benz and Smart brands is making a similarly aggressive push relative to its size.
“We are going to launch 10 pure battery-electric vehicles until the end of 2022, and we are covering the whole portfolio — from Smart [cars] to big SUVs and big sedans,” board member Wilko Stark announced during a news conference at the Paris Motor Show in September.
The Mercedes Benz EQC.Adam Jeffery | CNBCThe new Mercedes EQC will go on sale in Europe first and then follow with an American market launch sometime next year, officials said during last month's New York International Auto Show. The event saw the debut of the EQC Edition 1886, a special launch version referencing the year when the founders of what is now Daimler patented the world's first vehicle to use an internal combustion engine.
The EQC Edition 1886 is promised to deliver 292 miles per charge and, with an output of 402 horsepower and 564 pound-feet of torque, it will launch from 0 to 60 in less than five seconds. Those numbers suggest it will pose a direct challenge to both Tesla's older Model X and upcoming Model Y.
While Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are just putting their battery-car programs into motion, BMW is preparing its own ramp-up. It currently offers an all-electric city car, the i3, through a special sub-brand, though that model doesn't match the range of what can be thought of as second-generation BEVs.
A new BMW i3 electric car is seen on the assembly line at the BMW factory in Leipzig, Germany.Getty ImagesFuture long-range products will more directly target Tesla, as well as Mercedes and VW. The Bavarian automaker recently confirmed plans to migrate to new vehicle platforms that will allow it to offer all-electric versions of virtually every model in its lineup.
Jaguar Land Rover was actually the first European automaker to enter the long-range space, its Jaguar I-Pace last month being named World Car of the Year by an international panel of motoring journalists.
But the wave of new products will soon turn into a tsunami. According to InsideEVs, a website devoted to electrification, 14 new battery cars will land in the U.S. market in 2020, with even more coming to Europe and China — the latter market encouraging the buildup with tough new energy vehicle regulations enacted in late 2017.
Ian Callum and the Jaguar I-Pace accept the award for the 2019 World Car Award at the New York Auto Show in New York on April 17th, 2019.Adam Jeffery | CNBCThe big question is whether consumers will accept the new offerings. A study released by AAA on Thursday found that only about 16% of U.S. motorists surveyed are definitely considering battery power for their next vehicle.
Last year, all forms of battery-based vehicles, including conventional hybrids, plug-ins and battery-electric vehicles, accounted for barely 5% of the American market. But BEV sales, in particular, roughly doubled.
That said, virtually all the growth could be accounted for by Tesla's new Model 3 sedan. Demand for competing long-range offerings like the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Jaguar I-Pace did grow, but at a much slower pace.
Manufacturers such as Mercedes and Volkswagen will have to hope more buyers start to plug in. The good news for them is that AAA found 40 million U.S. motorists would at least consider a BEV in the future, with millennials particularly open. And the long-standing axiom in the auto industry is that the more product available, the bigger the appeal.
Paul Eisenstein is a freelancer for CNBC. His travel and lodging to the New York auto show was paid for by an automaker.